Hornets Officially Sign Lance Thomas For Rest of Year

The Hornets have officially signed Lance Thomas for the remainder of the year, and have signed Solomon Jones to a second 10-day contract.

Having Thomas for the rest of the season shores up the front line to some extent, and the re-signing of Jones means that the Hornets will continue to have enough front court players to field an actual scrimmage in practice, if they so choose.

Thomas has been with the Hornets for two consecutive 10-day contracts, appearing in nine games during that span with averages of 2.7 points and 3.7 rebounds.

The 6’8” forward also appeared with the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League this season. In 19 games (all starts) for the Toros, Thomas averaged 15.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 32.6 minutes of play. The Scotch Plains, New Jersey native also played for the Toros during the 2010-11 season, averaging 12.6 points and 5.5 rebounds in 46 games (all starts).

Jones averaged 3.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 14.8 minutes over five games for the Hornets during his first 10-day. The University South Florida product appeared in 10 regular season games with the Los Angeles Clippers this season before being waived on February 7th. Originally signed by Los Angeles on January 3, 2012, Jones averaged 0.6 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.5 blocks in 9.6 minutes of play with the Clippers.

The 6’10” forward is in his sixth NBA season and was originally drafted by the Atlanta Hawks with the 33rd pick in the 2006 NBA draft. After spending three seasons in Atlanta where he played in 156 games (including eight starts during his rookie season), Jones spent the 2009-10 and 2001-11 campaigns with the Indiana Pacers before landing with the Clippers this season. The Eustis, Florida native holds career averages of 3.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in 10.9 minutes over 262 games.

Don't know what they see in Thomas. I like his energy, but he makes tons of mistakes. Would like it if they signed Sloan the rest of the year, though. He has a good skill set, it's a shame Monty doesn't play him more.

Not Landry, that is for sure. And even if the others do return, Kaman will be gone soon (hopefully for a good young PG). So another PF is needed. Thomas does a lot of the little things and is very coachable. Why not see what strides he makes over the course of the season with some NBA coaching and NBA playing time?
The Hornets brought Thomas in to start the season for a reason.